“I wanted to give this a try as soon as it arrived yesterday. But I was worried I’d be up all night as this is billed as their strongest tea! So I waited to try it on this cool (for now) July...”
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From Harney & Sons

We Harneys are of Irish descent, so we were a bit reticent to concoct Scottish teas. However when our friends at the American-Scottish Foundation suggested to do two teas and that they would assist us, we agreed. The most important quality was to make strong, strong teas. So we blended strong black teas from India and Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). Our friends at the ASF said it was a nice start, but “make ’em a wee stronger”. So our Scottish Morn is our strongest tea. And the Scottish Afternoon is only slightly mellowed by the addition of Darjeeling. We are pleased to offer these two teas to our Caledonian cousins.

Since 1983 Harney & Sons has been the source for fine teas. We travel the globe to find the best teas and accept only the exceptional. We put our years of experience to work to bring you the best Single-Estate teas, and blends beyond compare.

Preparation

This was my morning cup. I picked up several samples from H&S, and I chose this one because I’m a big fan of a good Irish Breakfast tea. The description on Harney’s site said this tea was even more robust than its Irish counterpart, so into my cart it went.

This is in fact a very robust tea. Strong and malty, it has enough of a caffeine kick to get you going on a Monday, but it’s smooth and rich enough to do it in style. It takes milk and sugar very well, and while it isn’t a complicated tea it is absolutely enjoyable.

Preparation

Another swap from Keychange.
Wow. I must’ve done something wrong because this bordered on undrinkable for me. I took a sip and it was like drinking sand it was so astringent for me. So much so that I didn’t really take much note of the taste other than it could’ve been roasty? But after a second sip I couldn’t drink it and ended up dumping the cup. /sigh/ And after I’d read such good reviews about it.
I still have a tsp and a half left so maybe I’ll give it another shot. Or I might swap it away. Uncertain right now.
Not giving this a rating in case it was user error on this.

Preparation

Thanks so much DigniTea! I know that some of Harney’s plain black teas are the briskest for some reason… sometimes when they cool they get almost undrinkable (well, I haven’t had those teas in a while, maybe my steeping skills have improved.) A CTC blend from Harney’s might become borderline deadly if not steeped correctly. The dry leaves here look like little bundles…a bit different from most CTC teas I’ve tried.

Steep #1 // 13 min after boiling // 1 1/2 min
As I’m pouring, the cup is immediately dark, so Harney’s suggestion of five minutes at boiling is a little out there. The flavor is surprisingly not as brisk as I thought it would be. It’s bready and malty but not very astringent, even as it cools. It’s as tough as you’d expect any CTC to be. It has a sweetness to it!

Steep #2 // 2 min after boiling // 2 min
Another good cup to go with some reading. Not astringent again! This is definitely a good CTC. I would have never guessed that a CTC from Harney’s would be less astringent than their other black teas. I think I have some resteeping to do!

Keychange sent some of this my way, which is great since there are a great many H&S teas that i haven’t yet tried. On the whole, my impression of them as a company is that they have teas that are just above midrange in terms of quality, and are reasonably priced – esp if you get more than a sample size. Downside is there ridiculous shipping costs to canada, but i have a tea mule so i shouldn’t complain.

I picked this one today as i woke up stupidly early and needed something to get me going right away. This is a strong, bold, brisk cup of tea – likely something that i should have added milk/sugar to, but i just can’t seem to bring myself to do it…EVEN in cases where that’s kinda how the tea was supposed to be drunk :) On the whole i am quite enjoying this – it’s a good kick in the pants sort of tea :) thanks keychange!

I’m in one of those post-lunch slumps, where I feel as though I could keel over and have a nap right here on my office floor, so forgive me in advance if this tasting note sucks.

This tea felt really strange and granular in the tin. I know that a lot of CTC black tea can feel this way, but I was still nonetheless a bit surprised at how grainy this felt. It made getting a heaping teaspoon a bit tricky, but i was determined. steeped it up for about four minutes, with cream and sugar.

And believe me, you don’t want to be trying this tea without cream and sugar. Even with cream and sugar, this tea was rough around the edges. h and S says this is the strongest tea blend they have, and I dare say it’s true, although aside from finding it “strong” in the tannic sense, I didn’t find the tea to be particularly interesting or complex or multi-faceted. it’s just a really strong black tea. i feel as though it’s a good tea to drink when you’re angry, because it’s intense and will make you feel as though you can take on the world in all the ways you feel justified to do so.

This is a delicious tea! I brew this pretty strong and no matter long I steep it, this tea does not become bitter. It is smooth and malty, but nutty flavors are revealed as the tea cools. I love drinking this tea.